Knowledge translation for the advancement of practice: A survey of facilitators and barriers in arboriculture and urban forestry

Abstract

Skilled, interdisciplinary professionals rely upon research and information sharing to remain knowledgeable. The management of the urban forest is an ever-evolving discipline, and updates to standards, best practices, and techniques occur frequently. Despite the volume of new research published in the complementary fields of arboriculture and urban forestry, little is known about knowledge translation within these two disciplines. Through a survey of 1088 Canadian and American arborists and urban foresters, this study found that both lateral (i.e., peer-to-peer) and vertical (e.g., mentorship) information sources are used in arboriculture and urban forestry. Arborists and urban foresters commonly rely upon discussions with other professionals (n=445, 41.1%), attending conferences and trade shows (n=431, 39.8%), and social media groups (n=414, 38.2%) and posts (n=392, 36.2%). There was comparatively less use of trade magazines, peer-reviewed journals, webinars, and teaching/training by instructors. The pandemic-associated popularization of virtual conferences made for more accessible and flexible learning environments for respondents but was critiqued for its poor networking potential and challenges for neurodivergent learners. Paywalls posed a challenge in accessing published literature with some respondents ignoring literature if it is behind a paywall. This research advances our understanding of the opportunities and challenges for knowledge translation in skilled professions.